


The Kindness of Serpents

by cosmicmilktea



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Harry Potter Setting, Alternate Universe - Hogwarts, Blink and you'll miss the Kaisoo, Chinguline (EXO), Fitting in is hard, Good Slytherins, Hogwarts, M/M, Mentions of Racism, Minor Violence, Oh Sehun is a big softie, second-generation immigrants
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-04
Updated: 2018-06-04
Packaged: 2019-05-18 06:33:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,542
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14847608
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cosmicmilktea/pseuds/cosmicmilktea
Summary: Look, Sehun knows that it's in the Hufflepuff job description to be selfless and kind, but surely one can betooselfless and kind for their own good.Sehun’s just bringing some balance to the world by doing nice things for Kim Jongdae - Without ruining his reputation as the Slytherin ice prince, of course.





	The Kindness of Serpents

                                                      

 

Ravenclaws trip easily.

That is what Sehun thinks, every time Langdon and Emery is up to their usual antics which mainly involves, amongst other things, tripping up a Ravenclaw in the hallways.

Maybe it’s the stack of books they’re constantly carrying, or the way they bury their noses in them, or simply the fact that they don’t really bother looking at where they’re going at all. But Ravenclaws are always the easiest to prank and trip up – Although not the most fun.

That, he thought wryly, sidestepping with practiced ease as a blur of red tackled Langdon down to the ground, has to be Gryffindors.

It’s almost like a ballet, the way this whole thing is always choreographed - First Langdon and Emery or some other boys from his House would pick a Ravenclaw, send the kid and their books sprawling into the floor. Then as they laugh and jeer, Sehun would take a step back and watch as a Gryffindor eventually comes to the rescue and the real scuffle begins.

This particular pair of Gryffindors – Fourth years, by the looks of them - are particularly spirited and might have some unresolved anger issues. Sehun barely managed to duck as a stray curse whizzed past his shoulders, his own books spilling to the floor and fingers sliding to his own wand since things are looking like it’s just a hair’s breadth away from actual pandemonium. He’s never really excited about participating in his fellow Slytherin’s hijinks, but your House is your House, and it’s usually not anything that a simple Expelliarmus won’t solve.

“Expelliarmus!”

Someone beat him to it, however. Before Sehun could properly grasp his wand, a clear voice – high and almost melodic, rang throughout the hallway with the familiar spell. Four sets of wands shot out from their owners to land, nice and neat, on an upraised, yellow-streaked hand.

And of course, here comes the Hufflepuff.

“What’s happening here?” The Hufflepuff questioned, despite the pretty blatant tableau in front of him. Sehun caught a flash of a Prefect badge and sighed because _of course_ it would be a Prefect. It’s not as if their house can afford to have _more_ points being taken for infractions like these. Granted, his housemates do start most of these stupid scuffles, but whenever something like this happens, green will always lose to red by association alone.

And yet, against all odds, the berating didn’t come. After a stretch of tense silence, the Prefect sighed, almost fondly, and carefully gave back each of the wands to their owner – checking each of them for injuries and patting the lone Ravenclaw gently. And Sehun thinks he’s not hearing it right because after asking his Housemates not to do anything of the sort in the future, the Hufflepuff actually told off the Gryffindors for rashly attacking a fellow student – without raising his voice or anything, of course - but still. It’s a novel thing, really. Not to be the sole villain in any given situation just because the Slytherin crest is sewn on his robes.

Beside him, Emery grumbled something about sissy Hufflepuffs always being a spoilsport, shooting a glare at the Prefect as they moved along to their next class. And then Sehun felt a tap on his shoulder – gentle and light.

“Ah, excuse me”

Sehun turned to look at the Hufflepuff Prefect, holding one of his arithmancy books in his hand, their proximity allowing him to really look at him and Sehun _froze_.

“Here, you dropped this”

Sehun wanted to say thank you, he really did - He wasn’t raised by wolves, for the love of God. But what he did not realize earlier, amongst the chaos and his own worry for house points, was that the Hufflepuff Prefect is absolutely, utterly _beautiful_. Sharp features, wavy hair parted in the middle to frame expressive eyes that crinkles at the edges and a smile – brighter than anything he’s ever seen – that curls up gently at the edges.

“Don’t get into too much trouble, all right?” The Hufflepuff before him chuckled, patting Sehun’s hand over his book before he turned away, waving cheerily at him as if he didn’t just watch Sehun casually loiter by as his housemates antagonize fellow students.

And just like that, Oh Sehun lost his heart.

 

**

 

His name is apparently Kim Jongdae : Fellow second generation British-Korean, Sixth-year Hufflepuff Prefect, and the star singer of professor Flitwick’s Frog Choir.

He’s also unbelievably, ridiculously _kind_.

It’s not like Sehun didn’t grow up with kindness. His parents were one of the many immigrants from the Korean wizarding war, accepted into the folds of Wizarding Britain’s pureblood elites by virtue of their own heritage and what parts of their estate back home that they could transfer overseas. Blood calls blood, they say, and apparently a pureblood is a pureblood, regardless of the land.

And yet, Sehun knows that his heritage was exactly why he was raised differently from most of his other Slytherin peers – With none of the preconceptions of blood purity and superiority that had caused Britain their own wizarding war. Were she taught in Hogwarts in her youth, Sehun is sure that his mother would be an excellent Slytherin herself. And yet her mother was also the one who taught him to be kind. Or at least when you can’t, to not partake in cruelty.

And when he is himself sorted into Slytherin, even when his impeccable spell casting and silent demeanor earned him the nickname of the Slytherin ice prince, he holds his mother’s words close to his heart.

Sehun has always realized this, that unlike Langdon who spent his childhood rubbing shoulders with the Dark Lord’s supporters or Emery who was raised in ballroom dances and intrigues between houses, he knew what it was to be raised with kindness. But even after all that, Sehun is still boggled by how kind Kim Jongdae is as he begins to observe the older boy.

He watched as Jongdae helps a first year catch his runaway pet frog on his way to class, no doubt making him run late for his own class. Watched as he leaves his breakfast barely touched to console a crying girl, as he massages a fellow Hufflepuff after their Quidditch practice, despite the fact that he too had taken a few hits from his team mate’s bludger, and slowly something niggled at the back of Sehun’s mind – restless and irritating.

Sehun knows that being selfless and kind is sort of in the Hufflepuff job desc, but surely you can be _too_ selfless and kind for your own good? Surely Jongdae too needs someone to be as kind and helpful as he is towards him?

And it was then that Oh Sehun, fifth year Slytherin and its crowned ice prince, decided that that someone would be him.

 

**

 

“A House Elf?”

Contrary to what the rest of Hogwarts might believe, there are actually more than one kind of Slytherin. Ambition manifests itself in many form, and over the years, Sehun has met more iterations of it than he can remember. There are, of course, the stereotypical pureblood scions – proud and cunning in games of social subterfuges. But there are also scholars and thinkers, whose search for knowledge goes beyond lines that are considered acceptable, quiet ones who slithers silently like snakes on grasses, vivacious artists and jokesters who strives to be the absolute best, the list goes on.

And then there’s Junmyeon hyung.

Heir to one of the oldest pureblood house in wizarding Korea before the war, Kim Junmyeon is something of an anomaly. While he does embody all of the Slytherin traits of ambition and cunnning, Junmyeon is also simultaneously one of the most polite, considerate, and just overall nice person that most people would ever meet. And that is of course on top of being an accomplished Quidditch player, wizard, and current Head Boy. In all honestly, were he not so close to Junmyeon, Sehun would be hard pressed to believe that Kim Junmyeon actually exists at all, and not just a romance novelist’s idea of a perfect man given life by some obscure dark magic.

Sehun, however, has the privilege of calling Junmyeon hyung his brother in all but blood alone. Their families has always been close, and growing up as only children both of them had gravitated towards each other – Junmyeon quite naturally taking the younger boy under his wings and Sehun content in the safety and freedom that Junmyeon’s presence gives him, even here in Hogwarts.

“Yeah, I just need some help with a few small things. You know a lot of them, don’t you?”

Junmyeon paused from his writing to look at him, eyes kind yet appraising. They both know, of course, that Sehun isn’t really one for pranks – Especially not one that requires so much effort and maneuvering as to involve the help of a house elf. Sehun’s ambitions lies entirely elsewhere.

“It’s nothing weird, hyung. Just for some extra supplies and food and stuff.” Sehun pulled his mouth into the slightest of pouts, knowing how despite everything, Junmyeon hyung always has a soft spot for his Sehunnie.

And then, for the _coup de grace_ : “I’ll try to find a way to pay them for it too”

At that, Junmyeon’s face lighted up in a beatific smile, because if there is anything that Kim Junmyeon is especially passionate about, it’s trying to finnagle the whole of the house elf population of Britain and beyond to rise up and demand wages for their work. Said it would inject new life to a tired, archaic economy, or some shit his hyung found in the muggle business books that he always seems to be reading.

“You would?”

Sehun only nodded, injecting every bit of sincerity that he could into his admittedly placid face. And he wasn’t lying, not really. He would try all right, it’s just that he’s already known the outcome from years upon years of following Junmyeon hyung around in his strange quest for house elf liberation. No House elf in their right mind would accept payment, much less from a student they’re in charge of.

But well, what his hyung doesn’t know won’t hurt him.

Junmyeon pondered a bit, as if going through the rolodex of the whole of Hogwart’s house elves inside his head (And Sehun won’t be surprised if that were really the case, honestly) before his smile is back in place.

“I know someone just perfect for you”

 

**

 

Sehun started with chocolates, because they’re small and inconspicuous and because he’s seen Jongdae bite into one - The corners of his lips curling up and eyes fluttering closed before he carefully rewrapped the remaining confectionery and just as carefully tucked it back into his bag. Sehun doesn’t want to admit that he’s replayed that stolen scene an obscene amount of time in his head, nope.

Sehun knows that the chocolates are a luxury to Jongdae. It’s not that the Kim family is poor, but Sehun happens to know that Jongdae has three little siblings yet to enter Hogwarts, and that his father, a muggleborn, is getting by as a Ministry worker in the Muggle department – One of the most underfunded departments in the Ministry.

Sehun also doesn’t want to acknowledge the lengths that he had gone through in ekeing out Jongdae’s family history from the records. No, sir.

Kerrie the house elf – small, wide-eyed, and wrapped up in a poofy beige ensemble - was surprisingly understanding and accommodating about the whole thing.

Sehun assumed that it’s in a house elf’s nature to be accommodating, but it was almost disconcerting how easily the house elf accepted the fact that sehun needs help sneaking things into Kim Jongdae’s belongings without the boy realizing that it’s happening, or who exactly sent them.

“Mister Oh is not the first boy smitten with other boys, oh no. Kerrie has seen a lot, oh yes she does” The small house elf said in a sing-song voice, smiling as she cradled the small box of chocolates in her spindly hands.

“I’m not…smitten” Sehun frowned, the word niggling at him because he’s not, really. He just wanted to do this whole thing because Kim Jongdae, while being the most gorgeous boy in Hogwarts, is also being the most stupidly kind human being inside it and Sehun just doesn’t abide with skewed balances like that. That’s it.

The house elf smiled indulgently, as if humoring a small child, before disappearing with a gentle crack to where Sehun had directed her.

 

**

 

And that was how Sehun started to funnel a steady stream of chocolates to Jongdae. Good ones too, none of that chocolate frog or cockroach clusters nonsense that everyone seemed to be enamored of. Sehun carefully curates a selection of confectioneries that he had shipped from his family’s usual importer - Decadent truffles, pralines with rich ganaches and clusters of almonds and hazelnuts, strawberries and cherries covered in chocolates – all wrapped in the same golden-brown paper that Sehun totally did not choose because it reminds him of Jongdae’s hair.

Everything was tucked away by Kerrie’s deft, unseen hands in places where Jongdae would expect it the least. Slipped amongst his parchments after a difficult test, inside the folds of his pockets when he’s on patrol, placed neatly on his usual corner of the common room. Even when Sehun didn’t specify, Kerrie seem to know just where and when is right for the Hufflepuff prefect.

And once, twice, more times than Sehun cares to admit because he’s _not_ specifically placing himself in the vicinity of one Kim Jongdae, he gets to actually see Jongdae finding one of his chocolates. And every time, there is the same widening of his eyes, then just as quickly, the beginning of a radiant smile that takes over the whole of his face – Crinkling the edges of his eyes and curling the edges of his lips as he carefully unwraps the chocolate in his fingers as if it was something infinitely more precious than what it was.

But above all, there is that spit second of surprise – The sheer _wonder_ in his eyes before he smiles, as if he’s taken aback that someone is actually doing this small thing for him, and somehow it only eggs Sehun more, makes him want to do _more._

 

“Mister Kim seems to like the caramel ones” Kerrie informed him chirpily as Sehun gave her the latest batch of chocolates. Sehun nodded, tucking away the information for later use.

“Um, Kerrie?”

“Yes, Mister Oh?”

“Since I’m inconveniencing you with all this, I was wondering if you’d accept some form of extra payment for your troubles? Nothing much, maybe just - ”

Five years of trained reflexes as a duelist didn’t save Sehun from the sharp whack of Kerrie’s wooden spoon, just before the house elf disappeared with a particularly violent crack from where she stood moments before.

Well, let it not be said that Sehun didn’t try.

 

**

 

Halfway along upping his stakes from chocolates to books, someone found out.

“Didn’t know you’re into poetry, Sehunnie”

Despite being dubbed as the best duelist that Hogwarts has had for a decade, despite his allegedly well-honed reflexes, Sehun yelped like a little boy and probably jumped a few paces in the air before whipping his head back, the hex he was firing missing the mark spectacularly to fizzle harmlessly on the magically padded walls. Several heads in the room turned to see the source of the ruckus, quite taken aback to see the dueling club’s best duelist be the one to make it.

Sehun quickly composed himself before firing a perfectly executed hex into the center of the target, silencing everyone with a cold glare and making them go back to their own practice.

But hell. Bloody, bloody hell.

That someone, thankfully, turned out to be Kim Jongin – Fellow Slytherin and dueling club co-captain and Sehun’s best friend. Jongin lounged against the wall behind him, studying the book of poetry that had spilled from Sehun’s open bag in his hand. It’s Yeats – A muggle writer of some sorts with passages of cloths and heavens that Sehun honestly could not comprehend.

And Jongin is right. Sehun _doesn’t_ read – No matter how hard Junmyeon hyung had tried to ply him with all manners of books during christmas and birthdays. And Sehun especially doesn’t read poetry books, much less ones written by muggles.

But Jongdae does. Sehun’s seen him with books of all sizes clutched on his small, small hands – magical tomes and travel journals and muggle paperbacks that he pores over and tuck inside his oft-bursting bag. Seen his brown eyes lost in wonder over the pages. And so books it was, even if it took some legwork to see what kinds of books Jongdae was taking out of the library because Sehun wants Jongdae to have those books, to be able to write in its margins himself and not worry about when to give them back.

“It’s not mine”

“I can see that” Jongin chuckles, lazily flicking the pages in obvious amusement. A beat, and then :

“Is it the prefect? The one with the nice smile?”

This time, Sehun managed to stop himself before firing off another stray curse. Instead, he swished his wand to conjure a small dome of silencing charm around them, turning sharply against his best friend.

“ _How_?”

Jongin shrugged, the lines of his shoulders elegant and fluid. “I just noticed. You’ve been eyeing the Hufflepuff table an awful lot lately – And I heard you and the terrible two had a run-in with a Hufflepuff prefect the other day. It all adds up, really”

Sehun’s face must have shown the absolute horror he’s feeling at Jongin’s observation, as his best friend’s expression gentled considerably, voice low and assuring “No one else knows, Sehunnie”

And Sehun believed him. Despite his easy smiles and sleepy eyes, there was a reason that the Sorting Hat put Jongin in Slytherin the moment it touches his head. His best friend is perceptive almost to a fault, observing the world around him with an unerring accuracy that he uses to great effect in duelling and Quidditch. Having known Sehun for almost a decade, dechipering the subtle changes in his stoic demeanor must have been child’s play for Jongin.

“So what’s this all about, then?” Jongin’s smile is back in place, a glint of mischief shining in his brown eyes.

Sehun sighed, and proceeded to tell his best friend everything.

 

**

 

“He sneaks out at night sometimes, you know” Jongin finally commented, halfway through Sehun’s long rant. Apparently, once he started Sehun found out that it’s as if a dam has burst inside him, and Jongin now probably knows as much about Kim Jongdae as he does.

“Huh?”

“For extra practice. Or to work in the library. Saw him a few times, terrible sneak, really” Jongin chuckled, even as Sehun frowned in confusion. It’s true that Jongin is fond of his nightly romps through the castle, doing God knows what with his Quidditch friends, but Jongdae?

“He’s doing homework and putting in extra Quidditch practice, Sehunnie. Your prefect is doing a lot of things around the castle and probably doesn’t have enough spare time for himself”

It made sense, somehow, and also explained how tired Jongdae sometimes looks – Shadows under his eyes that’s somehow overcame with how bright his smile is.

“Might want to look into that too” Jongin shrugged, and Sehun is suddenly struck by just how strange this whole business is, and just how calmly Jongin is taking in everything. Jongin is always calm be default, of course, but surely this is too _strange_.

“Sorry for unloading all this to you, mate. I know this whole thing is just – “ Sehun began, but was cut off by Jongin’s hand on his shoulder

“No, I get it” His best friend smiled, waving his own wand to dispel the silencing charm above them as he rose up from the floor “Question is, Sehunnie, do _you_ really get it?”

Sehun frowned again, but Jongin had on one of his quiet, enigmatic smile, which means he’d be getting nothing even if he went at him with a battering ram. He groused and rose along with his friend, rolling his eyes as Jongin began to hum a random tune.

“We’ll see”

 

**

 

It’s a Thursday when the Ravenclaw cornered him in the Owlery, and of course it’s a Thursday. Sehun should have known.

Honestly, Sehun doesn’t understand why people always pick Thursdays for their love confessions – Girls, boys, it apparently doesn’t make a difference. There’s nothing ever particularly special about Thursdays in Hogwarts, nor was it even his regular schedule to go to the Owlery. It probably has to do with tea leaves and the movements of celestial objects or some other Divination class drivel – Most idiotic things often does.

What he understood at the moment was that apparently when you operate under the notion of celestial beliefs and soulmates, you just don’t take ‘no’ for an answer. The moment the word came out of Sehun’s mouth, the face of the Ravenclaw girl before him twisted into an admittedly terrifying mask of rage.

“No? What do you mean no?!” She screeched, and before Sehun even knew how to react, her wand is out and he is slammed into the wall of the Owlery by some charm he couldn’t quite identify. Owls screeched and hooted along with surprise and disdain all around him, tufts of feathers filling the air as the girl advanced towards him and Sehun’s life legitimately flashed before his eyes.

Bloody hell. It’s always the bloody bookworms that are the crazy ones, isn’t it?

“Expelliarmus!”

The pressure around his body disappeared, and Sehun slid to the floor to stare at a rather bewildered Kim Jongdae, wand drawn in one hand and the other filled with the Ravenclaw’s wand and presumably a letter that he was about to send before he walked upon this madness. The Hufflepuff’s brown eyes darted between Sehun and the girl, now crumpled on the floor and sobbing openly. He seemed to weight the admittedly strange situation in his head before tucking the girl’s wand beneath his robes, approaching her cautiously.

“You’re Jenny, aren’t you?” Jongdae knelt beside the Ravenclaw, voice low and soft, and Sehun is hysterically reminded of Hagrid’s instructions on how to approach a Hyppogriff “Jenny Wills? Same year as Joy?”

The girl nodded tearfully as Jongdae produced a handkerchief out of nowhere and proceeded to soothe the girl and Sehun watched on, transfixed, at the whole thing. “I don’t know what happened here, but you really should be careful with spells like that”

The girl let out a fresh wave of tears, her sobs reaching a shrill crescendo “But he said no! He said no when we’re clearly meant to be! The stars said so!!”

Ah. So Divination it is, sehun thought wrily.

“The thing is, you might really hurt others, and you might hurt yourself too and we don’t want that. No one wants you to get hurt”

By the time the Ravenclaw had stopped crying and could be coaxed to go check herself into the Hospital Wing, Sehun’s pretty sure that the girl has forgotten all about him and was instead making starstruck eyes at Jongdae – Which he really really couldn’t fault.

Jongdae’s attention immediately turned to him, and Sehun is absolutely _not ready_ as Jongdae began helping him up, eyes soft and worried as they swept over Sehun’s taller form.

“Are you all right? Sorry for not getting to you sooner”

Sehun nodded, not trusting himself to speak lest he began imparting potentially incriminating things. Jongdae fussed over him nevertheless, one hand hovering close to him before a warmth settles on his spine, soothing his admittedly aching back.

“Thank you” Sehun said quietly, trying to keep the blush from creeping up from beneath the collars of his robe, trying not to bloody combust on the spot because that was Jongdae’s magic on him – golden-warm and its signature vibration almost melodic in its residue, just like his voice.

“Not staying out of trouble after all, I see” Jongdae chuckled, patting his shoulder before he seemed to bemusedly realize that he was, after all, there to deliver a letter. Sehun pulled out his own letter back home from his robes, whistling at Vivi to perch unto his wrists even as he surreptitiously identified jongdae’s owl amongst the flock of birds surrounding them – A tawny brown owl that’s probably more fluff than actual owl and looked suspiciously similar to the Hufflepuff.

For a moment, both of them stood side by side in silence as they tried to wrangle their respective owls with their respective letters, before Jongdae broke the silence again.

“Oh Sehun, right? Junmyeon hyung talks a lot about you during patrols“

“Junmyeon hyung talks about you sometimes too, hyung” Sehun added the honorific a tad belatedly, already too used to calling the older boy as Jongdae in his mind for weeks now. Sehun wanted to say something else, anything else, but all he he felt is a sneaking jealousy that Junmyeon hyung is apparently on a first-name basis with Jongdae.

“Only good things, I hope” Jongdae laughed beside him “Well, Junmyeon hyung did say you are quite the charmer. I assume the girl just now was trying to get your affections and failed?”

“…Something like that”

“I’ll have a talk with professor Flitwick to look into her and maybe give her some ah…counseling. But in any case!” He turned to look at Sehun “I can see how the attention can be annoying, I hope it doesn’t get to you too much”

“Anyway, I have to run“ Jongdae chuckled, petting his owl one last time before he ducked his head with another smile, another wave that was so reminiscent of the first time they met.

Sehun gave a tiny wave back, wanting to say something – anything, really. But the words die in his throat and he is left with the lingering memory of Jongdae’s smile and a warmth that finally took over his whole face.

He’s absolutely _done_ for.

 

**

 

One of the things that you learn being a Slytherin is to always have a spare owl. Sehun loves Vivi with all his heart, he does, but sometimes he requires thing to be a tad more discreet. And so instead of Vivi’s almost blinding snow-white, it was a mousy-looking barn owl who swooped down the Hufflepuff table that morning.

Over his years of being an almost-brother to the unholy terror that is Kim Yerim, Sehun had learned many a thing too. But the most useful one was a charm that he could use to amplify sounds from far away for his ears alone – Something Yerim used an inordinate amount of to eavesdrop on adult gossip during their many, many joint summer vacations. He subtly glanced over at the Hufflepuff table beside him, where a small crowd had gathered around Jongdae and two red-streaked figure had ambled over from the Gryffindor table to crane their head into the prefect’s personal space.

There was the sound of shuffling and paper being unfolded slowly – Sehun already imagining Jongdae’s always-careful fingers taking apart the package even as someone egged him on to just tear the whole thing in one go. He heard rather than saw the gasp Jongdae made upon seeing the contents of the package. It was a leather-bound notebook, the cover subtly embossed with Jongdae’s initials and a small, enchanted engraving of a badger. Sehun had it custom-made from a small Italian wizarding atelier after seeing Jongdae’s fraying schedule book – crammed full of notes and reminders of the thousand things the prefect must had in his schedule, taking care to make it understated enough while being of a high quality. Somehow, Sehun got the feeling that Jongdae would probably be ill at ease with anything too gilded or flashy in his possession.

Sehun couldn’t pinpoint what exactly made him send the package with such a public gesture rather than doing his usual routine of giving it to Kerrie. But seeing Jongdae’s smile amongst so many people settled something inside him – people are so used to seeing Jongdae give and give and somehow, having him receive something so publicly, so openly, feels right for Sehun.

“Someone has a secret admirer, huh?” The pink-haired Gryffindor– Byun Baekhyun, wasn’t it? - Let out a low, lewd whistle before elbowing Jongdae none too subtly.

“it really has no sender or anything” Jongdae mused, his slight frown visible even from his place in the Slytherin table.

“If it has the sender’s name, then it won’t be a secret admirer!” Byun whined loudly before continuing at Jongdae’s questioning look “And then where’s the romance in that, huh? Huh?”

Jongdae chuckled “Still, I really wished it said who the sender was. I want to be able to thank them personally” and then, his voice softened, a gentle look in his eyes that totally did not make Sehun’s heart skip a beat “All this…It’s really kind of them, you know”

 _Kind_.

It’s really not a word that Sehun would associate with himself. There is not a lot of opportunity to be kind, down in the Dungeons and amidst the swirling intrigue of pureblood estates, where every gesture, every favor that is out in the open is weighed and scrutinized. And even though his mother had raised him with kindness, even when his world doesn’t begin and end with the Slyherin crest on his robes, the word still felt alien, strange against his skin.

But Sehun thinks he can get used to it.

 

**

 

After that, Sehun’s secret endeavor slowly becomes a norm. Halfway through the school year Sehun knows almost everything there is to be known about Kim Jongdae – His schedules, his Quidditch practices, the songs he sang for the Frog Choir, how he takes his tea and each of his three closest friend who made up the so-called ‘Golden Quartet’ of the sixth year : Byun Baekhyun, Do Kyungsoo, and Park Chanyeol.

In all honesty, Sehun feels like a creep. Even if Kerrie and Jongin – The only two souls in Hogwarts who knew of his little secret, never really brought up just how closely he is toeing the line between appreciation and straight out stalking.

And yet, Sehun feels a strange sense of accomplishment every time he saw a smile begin to spread across Jongdae’s lips, each time he discovers one of his gifts or realized that somehow the broken handle of his broom had been magically repaired.

At times like those, Sehun realizes that the prefect’s smile is different from his usual sunny façade to the world – Gentler, fonder, somehow, and Sehun totally does not think that his smile is for him. _His_.

Not at all.

 

**

 

Even from early on, Sehun knew that the point of his whole endeavor was to do nice things for Jongdae from afar - With a pretty strong emphasis on the word ‘afar’. That was why he got into all the trouble of recruiting Kerrie and keeping himself as low-profile as possible, as direct confrontation was never something that many Slytherins are built for. Not something that _Sehun_ is built for.

And so when Sehun is put in front of a sleeping Kim Jongdae, it was something that happened completely outside any of his plans. He had been on his way out of the library, laden with books for the Astronomy essay he kept on pushing off doing, when he noticed a yellow-streaked lump on one of the corner most table. Jongdae’s usual table.

His feet moved on its own, and he found himself looking down at a peacefully slumbering Kim Jongdae – head pillowed on folded arms and a mess of parchments and opened books creating a sort of halo around him on the table. Sehun noted with no little satisfaction that his gift is being put into good use – The leather bound notebook now filled with Jongdae’s neat, tiny handwriting. This close, he could see the minute details of Jongdae’s brown locks, falling over long lashes and making him itch to tuck them away behind his ears. There is an indescribable softness to his sharp features when he sleeps, the curl on the corner of his lips softened into a gentle line and -

And Sehun should probably stop being creepy. Really, his mother might have trained him to observe people well, but even she would have drawn the line at watching people while they sleep – that’s just plain rude and classless.

“Hyung” Sehun whispered, the honorific strange yet novel on his tongue towards Jongdae. He remembers Jongin’s words, of Jongdae not having enough time to do all his homeworks in daytime, and thought that the least he could do is not let Jongdae sleep away this probably precious study time “Hyung” He tried again, nervous hand alighting on the sleeping boy’s shoulders.

Jongdae, it would seem, is a light sleeper, as his eyes fluttered open immidiately the moment Sehun touched him. He could feel the muscles beneath his hand tense up for one brief moment before Jongdae raised his head to blink owlishly at him and Sehun tried his best not to blush.

“Ah? It’s you! Sorry, must have…fallen asleep” Jongdae rubbed his eyes with a rueful sigh before fixing his eyes towards him. After the incident in the Owlery, they have exchanged many small greetings and fleeting conversations over the following months – All initiated by Jongdae, of course. But this, this would be the first time that there would be just the two of them – No students milling about or Quidditch team making a ruckus in the background, and Sehun honestly didn’t know what to do.

“What are you doing here so late?”

“I can say the same for you, hyung” Sehun bit his tongue just in time before he let out that he knows Jongdae has a Quidditch match tomorrow and has no business at all pulling all nighters right beforehand. The older boy scrunched up his nose at this, and Sehun couldn’t help but chuckle a little.

“Just…homework” He waved around him and Sehun nodded, gesturing at his own pile of books with a commiserating look.

“Astronomy, eh? Professor Sinistra still makes you do that three-foot long essay on exoplanets and their relations to other celestial bodies?”

“Don’t remind me” Sehun groaned, running a hand through his already messy hair because however the Astronomy professor claimed that this will be good preparation for their OWLs, there is no way that this will be of any use in anyone’s life in any way. Like, _what_ is even an exoplanet?    

“Let’s see what you have there” Before Sehun knew it, Jongdae had reached across the table to peruse at his book selections and _of course_ the Hufflepuff prefect would take the time to help him out despite his own mountain of homework. Irritation and a strange spike of fondness waged a small war inside Sehun’s stomach as Jongdae began setting aside a few books “This, this and this will be the most useful from my experience. The rest you can actually do without – Learned that the hard way”

Sehun blinked at the three relatively slim volumes before skimming through them “I..Thank you, hyung”

“If you want, look around it a little bit – I’ll be here if you need any second opinions” Jongdae smiled at him before going back to his own mess of arithmancy calculations. Befuddled by the casual invitation, Sehun found himself settling down across the table, going through the books that Jongdae recommended and finding out that the older boy might very well have saved him his sanity by making him skip all the dusty tomes he thought he should be reading.

For some time, there was only them, the steady scratching of Jongdae’s quill and his own occasional flipping of pages, and Sehun felt a strange contentment fall over him. It felt warm, almost, this companionable silence, Jongdae’s quiet presence just an arm’s reach away, open and inviting and nothing like the sometimes loaded silence in the Slytherin common rooms. _Nice._

Sehun must have lost track of time, as Jongdae suddenly put his quill down and stretched with a spectacular yawn that was admittedly kind of cute “It’s going to be curfew in a little bit. And I think that’s enough studying for one day, isn’t it?”

Sehun blinked a few times and checked the large enchanted clock at the end of the library’s aisle, and sure enough it was fifteen minutes shy of ten, just enough time for them to tidy up and head back to their respective dorms.

“Ah, one last thing!” Jongdae seemed to remember something before he rummaged inside his bag, coming out with a small pouch of chocolate bonbons that are way too familiar for Sehun – Having just given them to Kerrie at the beginning of the week. Jongdae fished one out, a pistachio-clustered chocolate, and placed it carefully on Sehun’s hand ”Nothing like a bit of a treat for a study session well done!”

Sehun’s fingers moved on its own as he popped the whole thing into his mouth, watching in something akin to fascination as Jongdae selects a honeycomb-infused treat and bit into it carefully, almost delicately.

“Good, isn’t it? These are so good it feels like a shame not to share it sometimes but I always find myself finishing it all” Jongdae laughed “You look like someone who’d appreciate good chocolate, though”

Sehun nodded again, thankful for the dim lighting of the library for hiding what must be a spectacular blush “It is really good. Thank you, hyung”

Jongdae beamed at him as they sneaked out of the library together, only parting ways at the point where the corridor went down to the dungeons and Sehun realized, flustered, that Jongdae had been walking him back to his dorms.

“There you go, thank you for keeping me company tonight!” Jongdae smiled again, patting him lightly on the shoulders, as Sehun is beginning to notice the older boy liked to do “And remember, stay out of trouble!” He sent him off with his customary little wave until he disappears around the corner and Sehun is left alone, dazed, heart full with strange and fluttering things, on the staircase.

The sweetness of the chocolate lingers on Sehun’s lips until much, much later.

 

**

 

“You should own up to your Prefect, you know”

Sehun had to remind himself to ask Jongin later if dropping conversational bombs while people are midway casting a hex is just a personal hobby or what, but at the moment Sehun congratulated himself for only missing the mark by a few inches instead of causing a full-on explosion.

Sehun turned to look at his best friend – who’s calmly firing off his own hexes towards the adjacent target. It was a Monday and there’s just them in the duelling club hall – Most others still caught up in the remains of weekend lethargy or frantically catching up with schoolwork that they didn’t get to do over the weekend. But Monday practices has always been a thing for Jongin and him to acclimate themselves back into a school week. Burns off the excess jitteriness, the like.

“And pray tell why I should do such a thing, when I’m perfectly content with how things are going?” And really, Jongdae is well-fed and smiling more, and Sehun’s happy for it. If it’s not broke don’t fix it, or something. There’s a saying for it, Sehun swears - Junmyeon hyung would probably know.

“Because it’s more than just some passing appreciation or strange pastime of yours and you actually know it” Jongin’s voice was level yet loaded, a note of challenge at the edge of his tone.

“You feel things for that prefect of yours, Sehunnie. And maybe it’s not such a bad idea to actually convey that like how people normally would” Jongin finally turned to look at him “Which is directly. As in spoken, to the person involved”

Sehun groaned, firing off three hexes in quick succession. They all missed. “You’re making this sound so…simple. You know it’s not” Because nothing is ever simple, really. Not when he’s a Slytherin and Jongdae is a Hufflepuff and he’s so, so _kind._

”Or” Jongin, flicking his wand almost lazily. “You’re being too much of a Slytherin and letting yourself make this to be way more complicated than it is” Jongin’s hex veered sideways to explode at the center of Sehun’s target, completely decimating the painted-on target before the magical mechanism of the hall replaced it with a new one. Jongin was never as precise nor as quick as he was, but what he lacked in that he made up with sheer power, the potential for magic swirling inside his placid exterior something that not a lot of people noticed. Sehun frowned at his best friend, whose face remained impassive and calm.

“Let’s do a round” Jongin said suddenly, gesturing at the dueling strip on the middle of the large hall. “If you win, I’ll shut up about this whole gift-giving business”

Sehun opened his mouth, but Jongin beat him to it “But if I win, your next gift to your prefect will be a pretty dress robe and an invitation to the New Year's Ball next month. How about that?“

Sehun’s eyes narrowed, even as Jongin calmly sauntered up the raised dais, taking one end of the long walk before cocking his head to the side, looking down at him with a small, infuriating smile.

“Afraid, Sehunnie?”

And there should be no way that something like that would work, really. He’s not a bloody _Gryffindor_ , for the love of God. And yet Sehun found himself climbing atop the other end of the strip, wand gripped in his hand so hard he’s kind of surprised it didn’t break.

“ _Fine_ , if this will make you shut up about it” He growled, adjusting the grip on his Aspen wand and gauging Jongin’s relaxed stance across from him.

“No referees?” Sehun asked, eyeing the empty duelling hall around them.

“No need” Jongin smiled , twirling his wand before straightening his stance into the formal opening of a duel.

Sehun had always been drawn to duelling. Quidditch, with its array of too many people and too much things outside of his control, had never appealed to him the way it did for Jongin. But duelling was just him and the opponent – Everything hinging on his ability to anticipate and react to the other person.

And then there is the detachment. Anyone who knows Sehun closely enough would know that he hates direct confrontations. Sehun would say that it’s the Slytherin in him, or perhaps it was why he was a Slytherin in the first place, but duelling is different for him.

Duelling is never personal for Sehun. When he stares down an opponent on the strip, it was as if everything that was him and his opponent is whittled down to its barest, most principle layer. As if they had ceased to be _them_ and it was only a matter of spell against counterspell, wit and cunning against speed and reflexes as everything else disappears into the background.

Professor Flitwick once said that this very detachment was what made Sehun such a good duelist, and Sehun agrees. Even though Jongin might come close to his scores, his best friend has yet managed to beat him in a one-on-one duel.

Well, at least this will put a stop to all Jongin’s silly badgering.

They bowed, wands touching their temples, and it was only a beat before Jongin launched into an offensive. His best friend’s style of duelling has always been a bit on the aggressive side, despite being the quiet, almost shy boy that he is most of the time, but Sehun had to admit that this is a bit much.

Sehun countered with a few well-placed counterspells before Jongin started talking.

“You know Kim Minseok? Prefect, Ravenclaw, Seventh year?”

“Yeah?” Sehun ducked from a full-body jinx, countering with a stunner that Jongin just barely dodged. Jongin was never chatty during duels, or during anything, and Sehun frowned at the other boy even as he weaved through the barrage of nonverbal spells that Jongin launched at him.

“He’s been patroling a lot with your prefect lately. Even asked Junmyeon hyung to switch schedules so he can be in the same timeslot”

Sehun remembers Kim Minseok – Captain of Ravenclaw’s Quidditch team and constantly toe-to-toe with Junmyeon hyung for the best test scores in their year – sharp eyed and well-built with a soft yet wicked smile. Somehow, Sehun could just imagine the older boy side by side with Jongdae, and his step almost faltered. Sehun gritted his teeth, quickly fixing his stance as Jongin and he circled each other in a brief respite. Jongin is clearly trying to rile him up, and he’d be damned if he’d fall for this like some bloody Gryffindor _again._

“That all right with you, Sehunnie? Ravenclaws works fast, you know”

And he knows. He knows, damnit. He’s been in the receiving end of one too many lovesick Ravenclaws not to know, and the image of Kim Minseok, arms casually around Jongdae’s shoulder as they patrolled, flashed again unbidden across his mind and –

Jongin noticed his lapse in concentration a split second before Sehun realized that he was distracted. But in a duel, a split second is all that it takes, and Sehun cursed aloud as Jongin raised his wand.

Sehun doesn’t like direct confrontations. Doesn't like it when it gets _personal_ , and Jongin knows this. Sehun should have known.

_Bloody hell._

The stunner was a nonverbal, a particular specialty of Jongin’s, and it knocked out all the air from Sehun’s lung as he crashed into the padded flooring of the duelling strip, staring at the unfamiliar landscape of the ceiling before Jongin’s face appeared above him.

“Next Hogsmeade, we’ll go find that dress robe together, all right?” He said calmly, smile placid as ever yet with a hint of smugness that only a fellow Slytherin could catch.

And because his best friend is an absolute wanker, Jongin smiled and added “I’ll get Yerimmie for a second opinion”

 

**

 

The dress robe was a deep, dark brown – impeccably cut with a honey-gold edging on its lapels and a burst of cream-colored cravat to be wrapped around the wearer’s throat. Despite his reservations, despite everything, Sehun could already see Jongdae’s lithe form wrapped in the rich fabric – the brown accentuating the gentle wave of his hair and his bright, bright eyes.

“You sure about the size?” Sehun asked Yeri as they rang things up on the register, the witch handling it cooing and gushing at how handsomely this will compliment Sehun’s own dark green ensemble while Jongin practically radiated amusement from behind them all.

“Please” The younger girl snorts delicately “I know _everyone’s_ size”

Which was not disturbing. At all. But knowing Kim Yerim, Sehun is just thankful that he doesn’t know the whole story.

“There you go, oppa, you better make it count” Yeri winked, shoving the whole parcel at his chest “I’d like to say that you owe me, but it’s high time you stop being such a crochety old dude and get some action. So make sure you DO get some action with your Hufflepuff, or I’ll be very upset”

Sehun barely managed a reply before Yeri was sauntering away with a cheeky wave, joining the gaggle of Slytherin girls in front of Madame puddinfoot’s and leaving him with a now openly laughing Jongin.

“What she said” Jongin grinned, and Sehun could only groan as they walk back to the castle. But in truth, there is something that felt like resolution beginning to settle on his stomach, the weight of the parcel on his hands a sort of reassurance. He could do this. He just has to find the right way and time to give this to Jongdae, to finally bring this whole…thing he’s been doing for almost a year into light. And Sehun was surprised that he wasn’t all that opposed to the idea as he thought he would.

Sehun remembers Jongdae’s smile, his easy gratitude and the possibility of that smile being really, really directed at him and he thought he could do this.

He has one month and all the time to plan it out. What could possibly go wrong?

 

**

 

It was a Friday when everything went wrong.

And of course it was. If Thursdays were prime time for love confessions, then Fridays are a hotbed of misbehaving students left with too much time and nothing to do and too much anticipation for the weekend.

It started out with a hallway prank, because Langdon was bored and Greengrass is tagging along with their usual trio and where Canis Greengrass is involved there is usually bound to be mayhem somewhere along the line.

They found a Ravenclaw walking along with his friends and Sehun remembers thinking that oh well, Ravenclaws trip easily. But this Ravenclaw was Do Kyungsoo – one-fourth of the golden quartet and thus friend to the extremely hotheaded pair of Byun Baekhyun and Park Chanyeol.

The hexes started before Kyungsoo even touched the ground – hitting Emery square on the chest and knocking over Canis in one go. Langdon, always the quicker draw, retaliated with a particularly nasty hex which knocked Park clean into the wall, leaving Sehun and Jongdae staring at each other, bewildered, over the melee that was their group of friends.

“Baek! Stop that! Everyone! Everyone just calm down!” Jongdae’s admittedly useless attempt at peace was totally overshadowed by the intensifying exchange of hexes – the thankfully empty corridor now a cacophony of whizzing spells as even Do had joined in on the fray, the small Ravenclaw glaring daggers at a now smiling Langdon.

“You have some nerve, Byun, attacking a fellow pureblood when you yourself frolic with Mudbloods” Greengrass spat, pointing crudely at Jongdae and Sehun could see the Gryffindor completely _lose_ it. With a growl, Byun launched himself at the Slytherin with a flurry of nonverbal spells.

It all happened so fast. One moment Sehun had begun to draw his wand, hoping to somehow difuse the mess without having to take sides, and the next thing he knew Greengrass – already on the floor from Byun’s assault, pointed his wand back at the irate Gryffindor. Only at the last second the Slytherin’s lips twisted into a smile as his wand veered to the left, where Jongdae is trying to help a fallen park from the floor.

“Sectumsempra!”

Time seemed to lapse into a slow, agonizing crawl as Sehun watched the spell whizz past in front of him, as the red slashes at Jongdae’s arm and an arc of blood flew through the air. Jongdae’s pained shriek is something that Sehun never, ever wants to hear again in his lifetime.

A chorus of alarm rose from Jongdae’s three friends and Park Chanyeol, that big lug of a Gryffindor, advanced against his housemates while Do and Byun crowded around Jongdae’s crouched figure. Sehun felt his heart tight in his throat, eyes roving over the blood splattered on the stone floor, not knowing what to do.

“Yeollie” Jongdae’s voice is strained, imploring “Come on, it’s no big deal. Let’s just - ”

“No big deal? What the hell? Dae, you’re _bleeding!_ ”

And then, of course, the Head Boy found them.

“What’s going on here?” There’s little to misinterpret, really. Junmyeon hyung’s wide eyes turn cold with fury as he surveyed the scene in front of him – The trail of blood, the bruise on Do’s cheek and all of the wands pointing at each other, the crackle of magic hanging in the air. His hyung’s eyes followed the blood to where Jongdae was crouched, latching unto the younger man’s wide ones, his expression softening immediately.

“Jongdae, are you all right?”

Jongdae nodded tightly, a wavery smile fighting to form on his lips despite the obvious pain that he was in. For a moment, Junmyeon looked torn between approaching the younger prefect and handling the situation immediately, but then his visage hardened again in resolution.

“Park, can you please get Jongdae safely to Madam pomfrey’s and have his wounds treated? I’ll come over once I’m done here” At that, the tall Gryffindor nodded, large hands gentle as they swept a protesting Jongdae in his arms as if he weighs nothing. Byun looked back at them with absolute venom in his eyes before Do ushered him along, finally leaving the remaining Slytherins in tense silence.

The four of them froze in their spot, each feeling like they’re in unfamiliar ground as Junmyeon hyung stared them down silently. Kim Junmyeon was many things to his fellow Slytherins – A role model, a patron, a guiding hand, but there had never been an instance where any of them were ever afraid of the soft-spoken boy. Until now.

“The Gryffindor started it” Emery began, but was cut off by Junmyeon hyung’s cold, cold voice.

“I don’t _care_ who started it. It doesn’t change the fact that you engaged in a hostile altercation with a fellow student using spells that are most definitely not sanctioned by the Ministry” At his last words, Junmyeon hyung’s voice took a dangerous edge. Dark magic was something that he absolutely did not tolerate “And frankly, I expected better from my own house. So the Gryffindors started it? Are you some common thug that has to stoop to brawling in corridors to prove yourselves?” At their silence, Junmyeon hyung peered sharply at each of their downturned faces “We’re Slytherins, and that means having pride in oneself enough that the only ones we need to prove ourselves to is our own – and most definitely _not_ by hexing some fellow students in the corridors!”

“But the mudblood – “ Greengrass finally spoke up, and Sehun squeezed his eyes shut because he did _not_ just say that. Not to Junmyeon hyung, whose crusade for liberation and justice banked the heaviest on muggleborn assimilation. It was either Greengrass was that obtuse, or he’s just suicidal.

“Ten points from Slytherin – for _each of you_ ” Junmyeon’s eyes are steely now, something Sehun has never really seen from his hyung before “And report for detention with professor McGonnagall tomorrow after your classes are done, and you are to tell her exactly what you were about to tell me just now, see how she likes it”

The three boys scampered away and then it was just him and Junmyeon hyung, who slowly turned his piercing gaze to Sehun.

“I didn’t do anything” Sehun blurted out the first thing that came to his mind and he couldn’t believe how petulant his own voice sounded.

Junmyeon hyung’s mouth thinned into a straight line, eyes cold as he regarded Sehun from head to toe, almost as if seeing him for the first time.

“ _Exactly_ ”

 

**

 

Sehun shuffled his feet, and cursed himself for doing so as he peered across the table, feeling entirely like a first year instead of the proud fifth year he’s supposed to be.

As Head Boy, Junmyeon is entitled to a suite and sitting room of his own – but he spends most of his nights in the Slytherin common room nevertheless– Taking up a small corner close to a fireplace and making it an impromptu office of sorts, open and inviting for scared first years and confused older Slytherins alike. Usually, there would be a few students milling about the corner – Asking for advice, sorting out arguments between housemates, or deep in some game of wizard chess that Junmyeon hyung actually, genuinely enjoys. But after the small altercation earlier that day, it was as if the whole house knows that their Head Boy was in a foul mood and thus left only Sehun daring to breach Junmyeon’s personal space.

As it were, Junmyeon hyung has been steadily ignoring Sehun’s presence in favor of his charms homework, which he knew his hyung could have finished around half an hour ago. His hyung doesn’t get like this often, and Sehun felt the need to say something, do something to somehow deal with this, even as the image of Jongdae’s pale face, the blood on the floor replayed itself again and again in his mind.

“Was he all right, hyung?” Sehun finally asked, cursing himself for not being able to just go to the Hospital wing and see Jongdae for himself.

“Jongdae is doing as fine as he could, considering the circumstances. The wound is deep, but not serious” Junmyeon hyung didn’t look up from the scritch-scritching of his quill “It will take him a few days to really recuperate, as it’s a magical wound” He paused, taking a deep breath, and Sehun could almost feel the tension in the lines of Junmyeon hyung’s brows, his lips thinning into a severe line.

“But this is…not the first of such wound that he had received, so caring for it should be…familiar to him” There was a wealth of unspoken things in his hyung’s voice and Sehun suddenly felt sick to his stomach.

Not the first of such wound? Does that mean something like this had happened to Jongdae before? And Sehun remembers the note of fear in Jongdae’s eyes as their gazes met earlier on, how quick he was to get away from his housemates and it _can’t_ be -

“Look, Sehunnie…” Junmyeon sighed, looking up at him from his parchment in something that’s a heartbreaking mix of exhaustion and disappointment and honestly Sehun wanted to sigh too. Wanted to say get in line, hyung, I’m disappointed in me too.

Sehun stayed quiet instead, resolutely looking at the parchments strewn across the table between them.

“I know that Langdon and Emery are your friends” Junmyeon hyung began.

“They’re not my friends” Sehun cut in, voice small and still sounding too petulant to his own ears.

Junmyeon hyung sighed again. “Be it as it may, but you are together with them a lot, and you were clearly going along with their behavior” He paused, looking at some vague point beside Sehun’s right ear as if he’d find the right words there “I know we have to maintain relationships inside our House to a certain degree, and I know it’s infinitely easier to follow the norm in things like these, but Sehunnie, this is not _us_ ”

“The Slytherin house is not some coven of bullies or a bastion of intolerance – And you know this. I just wish…” There is something infinitely weary in Junmyeon hyung’s voice and somehow, it hurt more than any of the coldness that was in it before. “I just wish you’d have done something, Sehun. Jongdae is a good person, he doesn’t deserve all …all _this_. I… _we_ of all people know what happens when people stand by when others are ostracized. Today it might be muggleborns, or werewolves, or house elves, but at some point it might just be anyone”

 _It might be us,_ Junmyeon hyung’s eyes drove in the unspoken conclusion all to clearly. And Sehun knows, really. His mother and father had made sure that he knew why they all had to uproot their whole lives and flee their homeland, knew what would happen when discrimination and pointed fingers went unchecked. They’ve lost too many things, too many people, for them to just stand by and watch it happen all over again.

Sehun knows this.

“I’m really sorry, hyung” Sehun said instead, voice small and defeated before he, too, left Junmyeon along with the rest of his house in his lonely throne.

 

He slipped Kerrie a small parcel of chocolate that night, to be delivered to the hospital wing, and didn’t sleep a blink.

 

**

 

Sehun saw Jongdae two days later, a pale cast to his nevertheless cheerful face and left arm wrapped up in a sling and Sehun remembers that magical wounds take time to heal.

Their eyes meet over the crowd of the great Hall, familiar brown eyes lighting up in recognition before Jongdae _smiled._

At him. As if he didn’t just stand by and watch as his housemates called him a Mudblood, as his blood spilled on the stone floors. Sehun wanted to scream, wanted to run to the older boy and ask him – what? Why? How could he still _smile_ like that?

Instead, Sehun smiled back the best he could, gave a weak wave back until Jongdae was gently ushered out of sight by an irate Byun Baekhyun.

His breakfast tasted like ashes.

 

**

 

Sehun did not stop sending his gifts in the following week, because Jongdae is still hurting and this is exactly when the older boy would need the extra comfort, the extra attention that Sehun could only give from afar.

Sehun watched as Byun and park and a cadre of uncharacteristically somber Hufflepuffs stuck close to the prefect between classes, glaring at any Slytherins who happened to pass by. How Do casually grabbed Jongdae’s bag and lugged it around for him, how his housemates piled his plates with all the food he couldn’t reach one handed. And Sehun felt an unwanted pang of jealousy that they get to do all these things to Jongdae so openly, so easily when all he did he did from the shadows, through another’s hand.

Kerrie doesn’t say a thing, accepting the chocolates and the small vials of pain potion as if it was business as usual. But there is disappointment in her large, large eyes that is somehow mirrored in the other house elves he came across and Sehun thought that this must be a new low - Now that even the whole population of Hogwarts house elves are disappointed in him.

Get in line, Sehun wanted to say to Kerrie, to all of them. He’s disappointed in him too.

 

**

 

It was a Friday again when it happened and in retrospect, Sehun thought it almost poetic. Fitting.

He was running back to his last classroom of the day for a forgotten arithmancy textbook, only to come face to face with a now familiar tableau on the long, empty hall. Only this time there was only Jongdae –Alone and surrounded by five of his housemates. He had his right hand around his wand, at the very least. Sehun has seen Jongdae duel before – Quick, heavily favoring stunning and incapacitating spells, and overall a decent enough duelist. But no one is expected to hold their grounds against five wizards at once – Much less when those five are Slytherins and playing fair is at the last page of their playbook.

Jongdae’s eyes darted across the deserted hallway, a sort of resigned determination in his eyes before they caught Sehun’s bewildered ones. Their gazes held for a moment before Jongdae shook his head a merest fraction – As if telling him to just _go_ , and Sehun’s heart broke all over again at the sight.  

“Aaaah, just in time, Oh” Emery crowed as he spotted Sehun’s unmoving figure on his line of sight “Finally caught the mudblood without his Gryffindor lapdogs”

Langdon beckoned him closer, and Sehun felt rather than registered his own feet walking closer to close in on the last empty space around Jongdae – encircling the Hufflepuff completely in black and green.

“You sure got us into a lot of trouble” Greengrass snarled, brandishing his wand to rest beneath Jongdae’s chin, tilting his face up “You sing, don’t you, mudblood? Why don’t we all go somewhere quiet and see how high you can go when I make you scream?”

There is a world of unspoken terror flashing across Jongdae’s eyes before he squeezed them shut at the words and right then, something inside Sehun _snapped_.

 _Always be kind, Sehun-ah_. His mother had always said _. And when you can’t be kind, then at least do not be cruel._

And he had, he had lived by those words. But he had forgotten, or maybe buried what was said after that in years upon years of trying to fit in, trying to feel right about himself.

 _But you know what’s even better, Sehun-ah?_ His father had joined in, smile indulgent and soft and ah dearest, his mother had always said – You’re such a Gryffindor.

_When you can’t be kind, always know that you actually can. And we Oh always strive to do our best, don’t we?_

Sehun hates confrontation, hates it when things get personal. Hates it when all the consequences of his being is spilled open into the light. And yet he couldn’t stay hidden anymore. Not now, not with Jongdae. Not after all this time. And so Sehun finally, finally said.

“Cut it out, Greengrass”

The blonde boy turned in surprise before he regarded Sehun with a smirk “What’s the matter, Oh? Not going to play Head Boy when big brother’s not here, aren’t you?” Behind him, Alecia Harlow laughed an ugly, high-pitched sound.

“I said _cut it out_ ” Sehun said again, louder, whipping his wand to point it straight at Greengrass’s jugular. Immediately, the hallway dropped into shocked silence – His housemates caught in varying degrees of surprise. Jongdae’s gaze flickered between the two of them, wide and uncomprehending at the small civil war breaking in front of his eyes.

Oh Sehun might have been the little ice prince that stands pretty and silent in the sidelines, almost a shadow to Kim Jumyeon’s larger than life presence. But Oh Sehun is also the best duelist that Hogwarts has had in a decade, and his house mates knows this.

Already, he had mapped his moves against the five people around him. One expelliarmus, and then three stupefies in quick succession, a full body-bind jinx so Langdon would fall into Harlow, incapacitating both of them, and then he’d only have to take care of Greengrass.

“Really, Oh? You’re really going to draw your wand at your own house over a Hufflepuff? Over a _mudblood_?” There was ridicule rather than actual heat in Greengrass’s voice, and somehow it incensed Sehun more. That to him and his friends this was all just some kind of game, some kind of way to pass the time while Jongdae stood there wide eyed and afraid, thrown into instances after instances where he is considered lacking. Considered less of a person because of something as trivial as blood.

“Yes, really.” Sehun is surprised by how level his voice sounded “And I should have said this a long time ago, Greengrass. I find all these antics of yours pointless and utterly useless”

“It’s not about the Hufflepuff” Sehun sneered, surprising his housemates with a sharp crackle of magic behind them. Thank Yixing hyung for teaching him that one bit of nonverbal trick, even if it can’t actually harm anyone. All in the mind, professor Flitwick had said. The duel begins and ends in the mind of its combatants, and right now Sehun felt that his own anger can trump over any petty malice that the other five could ever conjure up.

He let his magic seep through the control of his wand, a soft yet menacing gust of wind picking up in the otherwise closed-off hallway,

“It’s about how you have to define yourself by what you aren’t instead of by what you already are. You don’t need to rough up some muggleborns to prove that you are something, Greengrass – It only proves that you’re some weakling without any pride whatsoever”

Sehun pressed his own wand beneath Greengrass’s chin, tilting his face up in a mirror of what he just did to Jongdae “So cut. It. Out”

His height allowed Sehun to stare down at his housemates, all of whom were sporting various expressions of surprise and horror. Sehun pressed his wand harder before shoving Greengrass back with a glare.

“Now go before someone finds us and you all cost our house even more points”

Sehun was actually quite surprised when all five of his housemates did just that, without any glances back at them, no less.

Sehun felt all strength leave his limbs as he realized just what he had done. He half-laughed, half-wheezed as he began to slump into the nearest wall, only realizing at the last moment that Jongdae is still there, and bloody hell, _Jongdae_ -

“Are you…Are you all right?” Sehun approached the older boy nervously, Jongdae’s eyes too wide in his too pale face as he nodded.

“Thank you. I..” His voice is thin and shaky “That was…” Sehun didn’t like the almost glassy look in his eyes, the realization of how close he was to being more than just simply hurt. He tried to steady Jongdae’s smaller form with his own trembling hands, the older boy falling into his arms easily enough. Soon, both of them were laughing softly as they all but clung unto each other for support.

Sehun noticed that Jongdae was still trembling, and he released one hand around Jongdae’s shoulder to rummage through his bag, brandishing the small parcel of chocolate at Jongdae “Here, this should probably help”

Jongdae made no move to accept the chocolate from his hand, and Sehun tried to explain “It’s Chocolates. The sugar, I think? It helps you with the shock, or something”

“This is…”

And then Sehun realized that Jongdae was not looking at him, but at the all too familiar wrapper of the chocolate and Sehun gulped, real, trying to backtrack, trying to explain away the coincidence.

“ _It’s you_ ” Jongdae whispered, and at that moment Sehun just knew that he’s been found out. That Jongdae knew now.

“You..”

Sehun didn’t let Jongdae finish. In a flash, he had detached his arms from around the older boy – a feeling of cold bereftness immediately gripping and following him as he turned on his heels and _ran._

He never did say that he was brave.

 

**

 

Sehun managed to avoid practically everyone for the whole of next day, which was easy enough given that it was the Saturday before the New Year's Ball – The whole school already a mess of anxious students and house elves cramming every corner of the castle with all manners of tinsels known to wizardkind. Emery and Langdon and their small posse steered clear of him during breakfast, the rest of his year mates looking at him in a mixture of uncertainty and fear as news that Oh Sehun had threatened his fellow Slytherins rippled through the table.

He managed to avoid Junmyeon hyung, whose face lit up with the promise of some long spiel of how he’s so proud of Sehun that he really couldn’t handle right now. Sehun even bailed out of dueling practice altogether so he won’t have to face Jongin’s questions, or, God help him, Yeri’s.

Of course in the end, it’s Kerrie who caught him. Sehun would like to think that Kerrie only managed to do so since she can literally pop out of thin air in front of him - Which was exactly what the little house elf did.

“Go away” Sehun groaned, safely cocooned in his bed, the curtains drawn and stuck shut with magic and silencing charms alike, not caring one bit that he probably sounded five year old.

As his luck would have it, the house elf made absolutely no move to do so, instead making herself comfortable on the edge of Sehun’s unmade bed. She smiled, face a mess of friendly crinkles and warmth as she handed him a glass of milky-brown liquid, familiar little balls of black dotting its bottom and a criminally bright green straw resting jauntily against the rim.

“Your favorite, Mister Oh” And bloody hell, of course Kerrie would know that Sehun could not humanly resist bubble tea – God only knows where she had gotten the thing, or how she even knows that it’s his childhood favorite.

There was really nothing Sehun could do but accept the glass from Kerrie, and he felt even more like a child as he sips his drink in sullen silence. As he drank, Kerrie began to survey the veritable mess that was his bed – tsk tsking at the pile of books and robes that she slowly folded and piled up before she got her hands on an all-too-familiar square of brown fabric – Still neatly folded and as pristine as the day he brought it from Hogsmeade.

“Would be a shame if Mister Kim don’t get this, yes? Would match his eyes so well too” There is something infinitely gentle in Kerrie’s voice, and Sehun thought he’s probably going to bloody cry if she kept it up.

“I…I can’t give that to him” Sehun said, voice small and so unlike his own. “Not after all that”

“But Mister Oh was being so brave yesterday” Kerrie peered at Sehun’s downcast eyes “Kerrie heard, from other elves. Mister Oh did well, did _right_ ”

“I wasn’t brave” Sehun whispered, because it was true. He might have been brave then, but he couldn’t always be brave. He couldn’t be brave _now_. Not enough to face Jongdae and face the consequences of everything that he had done for the past year.

“Mister Oh” Kerrie plopped down beside him “told Kerrie once that he wants to pay Kerrie, yes?”

“…Yes?” Sehun blinked, not knowing where the little house elf is going with this.

“Then this is payment that Kerrie want” There is a smile in Kerrie’s voice, even if Sehun couldn’t see it “Let Kerrie bring this to Mister Kim, and tomorrow, when Mister Kim is all handsome and smiling wearing this, you” A spindly finger pokes Sehun on the nose, and he thought, vaguely, that this is probably some breach of decorum or another.

“You, Mister Sehun of house Oh, will ask him to dance with you”

“Why does everyone want me to dance with Kim Jongdae?” Sehun whined, and only got an unimpressed stare for his trouble.

“Kerrie will tell your brother too that Kerrie asked for payment” The little house elf grinned, and Sehun wondered if Junmyeon hyung had expressly chosen a Slytherin house elf for him in the first place.

“Now that that’s settled” Kerrie said, despite the fact that Sehun had settled nothing whatsoever. But his thoughts are feeling increasingly muddled and heavy , and Sehun stared incredulously at the empty glass still on his hand before that, too, was taken by Kerrie’s deft hands and he was pushed down into his own pillow ”Now Mister Oh can get some sleep”

By the time Sehun woke up, the parcel is gone from his bed, and he didn’t know how to feel.

 

**

 

In the end, Jongin had to physically drag him from their dorm, and get him ready with the considerably unhelpful help of Yeri, who somehow managed to sneak into the boy’s dorms despite what was allegedly an unbreakable charm to prevent the opposite sex from getting past the threshold at all.

“Please” Yeri gave him her signature snort “I can get anywhere I want”

And that was that. Sehun clamped his mouth shut and let the younger girl comb and spray and charm his hair to oblivion because at some point, you just don’t argue with Kim Yerim.

He was surprised that Jongin immediately excused himself once they reached the ballrom doors. And even more surprised when Do Kyungsoo approached him – All prim and quiet in his all-black ensemble, and took Jongin’s arm on the crook of his. Sehun thought his capacity for surprise has spilled over when Do looked at him and nodded, the barest hint of a smile gracing his heart-shaped lips.

“You’re not the only one with a secret beau, Sehunnie” Jongin winked at him, even as Do rolled his eyes heavenwards . And then, softer, meant for his ears alone “You’re going to be fine? I made sure none of our pals from Greengrass’s little gang would try anything tonight. But if you’re not comfortable..”

Sehun shook his head, pushing Jongin away with a small smile before ushering the strange, strange couple into the crowd.

Navigating the ball alone was easy enough. Sehun has had more than enough practice in being inconspicuous in the middle of a partying crowd during his lifetime. He posted himself in a strategic corner between the buffet table and a shaded pillar – leaning against the cool marble to give himself the time to think because he’s here. Everybody’s here and that means Jongdae’s probably also here, somewhere in the crowd, and that, in turn, means that at some point he’s going to have to -

“There you are”

Sehun stared, bewildered, his tongue stuck to the roof of his mouth even as his body turned to find himself face to face with one Kim Jongdae.

This, he thought faintly, must be what being under an Imperius feels like. If not for the fact that he’s sure being Imperiused doesn’t include a feeling of giddiness and warmth bubbling up inside him because the Kim Jongdae standing before him was truly a _sight_.

Any imaginary picture of Jongdae that he had entertained when he picked the robes, so many weeks ago, paled to the comparison of the boy now smiling up at him – Radiant and yet so, so soft with the deep browns of his robes complimenting the shine in his eyes and Sehun’s done for, he really was.

 _Dance_. He was supposed to ask Jongdae to dance. He promised Kerrie, didn’t he? Promised himself too, that one day so many weeks ago on the way back from Hogsmeade.

Yet again, Jongdae beat him to it.

“May I have this dance?”

Sehun moved almost by instinct alone, years and years of soirees and unwanted masquerade balls making him place his hand on Jongdae’s waist and another clasped together with the other boy’s as Jongdae pulled him out towards the light of the dance floor and Sehun thought this was _it_. He’s in the middle of Hogwarts and now everyone would know, would _see_.

And yet, the thought was but a fleeting thing as the orchestra started and they started to _dance_. This close, Sehun could feel the warmth of Jongdae’s body, the way his smaller frame fit into his and he is lost for words, lost on what to think as they swayed and circled and turned with the music.

“This thing is really beautiful, you know” Jongdae surprised him with a quiet, almost conspirational whisper “Do all Slytherins have good taste or is it just you?” Jongdae laughed, then did a little pirouette before pressing himself back into his embrace, as if making a show of himself, and Sehun’s brain flailed for a full second because that was for _him_.

“Uh..”

“Thank you, it’s very nice” Jongdae’s voice is soft and low, barely brushing the air between them “The gifts. That was all you too, wasn’t it?”

Sehun felt the first signs of warmth creeping up his face, and he ducked his head, even more sheepish than before “Yeah. It was me”

The admission felt _good_. Unbelieveably so.

“You really didn’t have to do all that, you know”

“I- I wanted to” Sehun mentally congratulated himself for finding the words “I wanted you to have nice things, the way you do nice things for everyone else” Sehun drew a deep breath “It only seems fair”

Jongdae was silent for a long time, brown eyes warm yet unfathomable beneath his as they moved and moved to the swelling of the music.

“Thank you. I really appreciate it” Jongdae finally said, voice even smaller, softer than before and for the first time, Sehun noticed the rosy tinge on Jongdae’s pale cheeks – faint but there, and he didn’t know how to feel about anything anymore. Around them, the music had fallen into a hush, the twinkling light of the ballroom dimmed in kind as the enchanted ceiling above them lighted up with the impending countdown to the New Year.

“And” He said this slowly, as if half-talking to himself. “I haven’t gotten the chance to properly thank you yet for standing up against your friends”

“They’re not my friends” Sehun replied, more a reflex now than anything else.

“Still. It was a very kind thing to do. You” Jongdae tipped his chin up to look straight at his eyes – His own brown eyes infinitely gentle and sincere “Are a very kind person, Sehun”

Sehun doesn’t know what to react to first – The fact that Jongdae just said his name, or the fact that he had called him kind. Him. Instead, he almost sputters and ducks his head, until small, delicate fingers touched the edges of his jaw. Sehun doesn’t think anyone has ever touched him that gently before, and he wanted to cry, wanted to break down from the thought alone.

“May I?” Jongdae whispered, even as the room around them echoed with voices raised in cheerful jubilation for the upcoming year.

“May you what?”

“Thank you, properly. For everything. And perhaps…”

“Perhaps?”

“The next time you have a gift, maybe you can give it to me directly?”

“All right” Sehun said, not knowing what else to say, and he thought that it doesn’t matter so much anymore as Jongdae finally, finally closed the distance between them.

Their lips met just as the clock struck twelve – Cheers and twinkling lights erupting all around them and Jongdae’s lips gentle and warm and promising of many, many things to come.

And it was the kindest thing that anyone has ever done for Sehun.

 

****

**Author's Note:**

> So, this fic was supposed to be a little warm-up to the (then) upcoming Exolliarmus fic fest - But I guess it got kiiiinda out of hand and grew and grew to be...this. The whole thing kind of stemmed from that one interview with Sehun where he said "I think Chen hyung is very comfortable but also very difficult. Why? Because he’s so kind. He truly very kind to the extent of being like a fool" and I was like hmmmm so watchu gonna do about it Sehun? XD
> 
> Anyways, sorry for this very, very verbose fic. I just have a lot of Sechen feels, haha. I hope you enjoy this, and if you have time I'd really appreciate any kind of feedback! Take care and remember to have fun, everyone! <3


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